LEFT Shimmering lightness ABOVE Conceptual drawing
The conceptual drawing of the work ( above ) identifies the site and intimates the nature of a monumentally large sculpture with a very light presence . The ribbonlike gesture expresses its independence from the ground as it soars above the green panels below . The narrowing of the ribbon lines suggests the presence of a mysterious force that is creating movement . The ground plane of the Greenway meanders through surroundings of large , blocky buildings that border the site . Echelman chose the location on the bend in the Greenway because this intersection of sight lines communicates the work to viewers who will be coming from both directions of the greenway ’ s linear route . research , the conceptual drawing , the importance of sight lines , the engineering and construction detailing , the refining of materials , the engagement with the public , and the installation process . Even her studio is familiar — with models , sample materials , computer drawing , and pin-up space .
Site research is essential to landscape architects and to Echelman . Hers begins below ground where she encounters a seawall where John Adams once had his office , now the basement of the 30-story tower at 125 High Street . Echelman acknowledges that while she and most Bostonians know that much of the present Shawmut Peninsula is built of made land , the stone evidence that the present Greenway was underwater is easily forgotten and worth remembering . Many of us do recall , however , the old , green elevated highway that was removed , and its absence is celebrated by the Greenway itself .
In the aerial diagram of the proposed piece , the collaborating engineers at ARUP identified the four locations where the structural cables of the hard net would be attached to buildings . The three voids in the colorful soft net represent the pre-settlement topography of the peninsula , in particular the trimountain
Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
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